Assessing children and youth's socio-emotional behavior in rural Côte d’Ivoire: Construct validity and links to caregiver mental health and stress

Côte d’Ivoire is a country with high poverty rates and high prevalence of mental health. We examined the validity of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in rural Côte d'Ivoire and how caregiver mental health and stress are associated with child socio-emotional problems across development. Findings indicate an adapted three-factor SDQ model (responsibility, internalizing, and externalizing) had best fit. Caregivers with poor mental health were associated with greater child externalizing problems, and parenting stress was associated with problems across all categories (responsibility, internalizing, and externalizing). These associations did not differ across child age. The adapted factor structure strengthens the validity of the SDQ and its use and interpretation in rural Côte d'Ivoire. Additionally, caregiver anxiety and depression, and stress were related to children’s socio-emotional outcomes in distinct ways, underscoring the need for targeted support and resources for families in Côte d’Ivoire.